


Luna Lovegood vs. Florida Man

by ArgylePirateWD



Category: Florida Man - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coffee, Gen, wizarding university
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 06:49:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20287192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgylePirateWD/pseuds/ArgylePirateWD
Summary: People called her bad things, too.





	Luna Lovegood vs. Florida Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [primeideal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/gifts).

> Saw your requests for HP and the tag "Florida Man's Redemption Arc" and went, _Who better to start Florida Man's Redemption Arc than Luna Lovegood?_

She went to university in the US, in a state called Florida. Leaving everything she loved and knew behind was frightening, of course, but there were far scarier things than impermanent goodbyes. And her university was beautiful, full of lush greenery and swaying palm trees, underneath the bluest skies she'd ever seen—so blue they looked unreal.

"Is it an enchantment?" she asked her roommate, earning her a disbelieving stare that turned into a sneer. Luna shrugged it off, of course. If Cassiopeia did not wish to be her friend, that was fine. A tad bit disappointing, but fine. Everyone kept saying she would find her real friends soon, and she had plenty back home. She wrote to them every day, long meandering letters sent by a plethora of owls, and liked to think she was never lonely.

Not as lonely as the man she passed on her way to her courses most of the time, anyway.

The loneliest man in the world always hovered on the outskirts of campus, far enough away that he wouldn't be arrested for trespassing. He was a gaunt slip of a thing, his blue eyes sunken, his dark hair long and limp and scraggly, his clothes dirty. Broken, rotting teeth filled his mouth. She suspected nothing filled his belly. And there was a large "F" emblazoned on his sleeveless shirt in faded blue.

"What does the F stand for?" she asked, as she and a few Herbology classmates walked past him one day.

"Stay away from that guy," Eddie said. "That's Florida Man."

"Florida Man?"

"Yep," replied Amanda. "Really gives me the creeps, ugh."

"He's dangerous, Luna," Erica said. "Stay away from him."

No one seemed to have any good explanations for their aversion, however. Everything was based on rumors—so-and-so heard he was addicted to illicit potions and kept getting arrested, a-friend-of-a-friend heard he was a former Death Eater, such-and-such was sure he was the guy who did something _terrible_ to what's-his-name and never got punished for it. Story after story after story, and not a lick of proof. Maybe none were true. Maybe all were true.

A few warnings weren't enough to make Luna stop digging. People called her bad things, too.

"What's his name?" Luna asked. Everyone shrugged.

"He's Florida Man, I guess?" Eddie said. "Who cares?"

A few weeks into the semester, Luna was munching on a sandwich and sipping a caramel-vanilla iced coffee drink, while poring over her American Magical History textbook. Flavored coffee was somewhat new to her, but she liked it very much indeed.

Then she felt somebody watching her. Florida Man, of course. He watched everyone. She wondered if he liked flavored coffee, too. It would be easy to find out.

She tucked her book into her satchel, grabbed her meal, and went to say hello.


End file.
